, 1887-12-01
THANKSGIVING SERMON


tfN i'sr II /. Z =
ION 1h.. n,"g w,u!d pra.s-r he Lord Tor hi,
-0.7iu"~5 t-H fuy A.- Wonderful works 20, -r..
t---i.!.~l. "t mon Psalm CIVIL.
/ Reason as we'll a. revelation. teach
Is Us that governments and com
mHnItlcs, is Will a. individual men.
are subjects Of religion. We cannot
SUPPOSE that men can be and 10. as :,
community. or in an organized cap
acIty, what 1t Woald be wrong to be
and do is individuals. Men cannot
with impunity live without Gcd.ip an
organized capacity. any more than
they can do 50 is individuals. Moral
and religious responsibility Is NOT
lost hy coming together as organized
bodies. Our relation TO God as our
righteous Sovereign. Is not alb
solved by the formation of
corporation and governments.
The moral law 5 binding upon gov
ernments and corporations. as well
as upon individual men if gov
ernment or corporation have no con
science and no soul as they are some
times said not to have. it is because
the individuals composing OF admin
| lsterlug them have none God re
CARDS and deals with nations IA pos
5c5scd of moral character, ana as rp
sponsible agents Blessed" says he,
by the mouth Of the psalmist, is the
| nation whose God Is jehovah The
! royal preacher says: righteousness
eXaIteth a nation; bat sin is re
! pruach to any people" isaiah says:
The nation and kingdom that will
not serve thee. shall perish; yea.
those nations shall be utterly wasted" D."
God Is the sovereign of Nations. as
well as of Individual men: and re
quires of them, allegiance and devout
obedience. And the word of God was
gwen for the guidance not only of
individual men. and OF the family,
and the church, but also of the State,
in all the affairs of life Aud yet it
has been boldly asserted that the
state has no Religion, no God. no BIZ
bic, no rule of condnct other than
that which may be indicated by IN
aided human reason. In defiance Of
the supreme authority of God. France
in 1893 proclaimed that there was no
| God, 40 Sabbath, no Immortality:
and endeavOred to run the govern
|
result Was mutual distrust, anarchy
and ruin, demonstrating the truth Of
what Thomas Carlyle, (who was not
Il religious man,) says: 1t seems TO
me great truth that human things
cannot stand on seltlshness, mechan-
ical utilities. economics. and law
courts; that if there be not religious
element in the relations of men, such
relations are miserable, and doomed
to ruin"
Napoleon Bonaparte, when he be
came ruler of France, discovered the
ruinous tendency Of Atheism, ami re
stored the recognition Of Christianity
and Christian worship as necessary
to good government and social we'll
| being. There is not nation on the
earth without q religion of some
kind, which moulds and controls the
national character and conduct. The
chief thing in a nation is its religion.
The American nation, comprising
the United States and Territories,
| flor I use the word Nation rs desig-
mating a body of people inhabiting
! the samo country, and united under
the same goveramentl has God,
! has religion. and it is the glory of
the nation that that religion Is the
Christian religion rs revealed in the
bible. 1t was the spirit of this relig
ion, and a desire to worship and serve
God according to the requirements
of revealed truth without molestatlon
OF restraint, that led to the popping
Of this land, and the founding of this
government, And from the earliest
days OF colonial history, down to the
present time, Christianity has consti~
tuted the prominent element IN our
| national life. and has been interviewer
with the very frame and texture of
society. Its principles permeats our
organic laws. and our Legislative and
judicial actions, and give character
| to cur national life.
Il the preamble to the ''Deciara
ton of Rights" ii is declared that
The several Colonies have elected,
constituted, and appointed deputies
to meet III the city of Philadelphia,
in order to obtain such establishment,
as that their religion, laws, and llb-
critics may not be subverted-" And
these deputies, among other things,
Resolved unanimously. THAT the
respective Colonies are entitled to
the common law of England" AT
that time Christianity was, and Is to
the present day, part of the COM
mon law of England. Although the
National Cons titution contains no
formal assertion of the Divine Sow
ereignty, 1t does recognize the Christ
ian Sabbath, by excepting 1t from
among the days proper for secular
business: and does impliedly recoS-
nize the Sovereignty OF God, IN re
curing solemn oath in his pane,
as a qualification for office, and en-
bodies and implies the same great
truths and facts as are set forth IN
the Bill of Rights.
The same thing is true OF the Con-
stitutions of the several States, many
of which contain an express recognl-
ton of God and of Christianity, as
also do the laws enacted under them.
The Supreme Court of Pennsyl-
vannia has, time and again, decided
that christianity is and always has
been part of the common law OF the
land" Aud the same court has de
cided that an infdel society whose
object is the subYersion of Christi
anity, cannot be incorporated under
the laws of the State nor regarded as
a body polite for the reason that 1t
would be unconstitutional
The Supreme Court of the United
States decides cases of litigation in
volving church property, accordingt to
the creed, constitution and pollty OF
the denomination making the claim,
or defending it. The Continental
\ Congress authorized the free impor-
tation of the Biblei aud III March,
| 1882, the Congress of the United
States did the same thing with regard
to the presentation copies of the re-
vised version of the Holy Scriptures.
/ Ard Toprracs axap,0tS Church DrnD-